Pet Cemetery Plots for People Becoming More Popular in Texas

Land doesn't come cheap unless you're buying a plot in a pet cemetery -- for yourself.

Texans wanting to find a final resting place at a discount -- and remain close to their furry friends for eternity -- are increasingly snapping up plots in pet cemeteries for themselves, WFAA-TV in Dallas reported.

Texas law doesn't allow pets to be buried next to humans in non-pet cemeteries.

Bluebonnet Pet Cemetery in Dallas has been seeing an upswing in plots for people, owner David Stafford told WFAA-TV. Some people are buying plots even if they don't have pets. Bluebonnet already has the cremated remains of three people buried there.

"It's something that is coming into demand because of the price," Stafford told WFAA. "It's cheaper to be buried with your pets than it is to be buried in a human cemetery."

According to WFAA, it costs an average of $8,000 to be buried in a regular cemetery, but only $300 to be in a pet cemetery-- though, you'd have to be cremated first. With those kinds of savings, it's surprising the demand isn't even higher. But it isn't all about the bargain.

Ken Martin (pictured above), who has no children, told WFAA that his pets are his family.

"It's a bond between them and you," Martin said. "It's like that's your best friend ever. You don't have many best friends, but dogs are special."

This arrangement didn't work out so well for one New York resident, though. In 2011, New York State banned the burial of humans in pet cemeteries. Taylor York, whose aunt already had been buried beside her dogs in the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery and Crematory just north of New York City, ran into trouble when her uncle passed away. York was unable to bury him next to his wife.

But after York, an attorney and professor of constitutional law, filed several administrative appeals (and was preparing to file a lawsuit), the law was reversed. Now, New York allows pet cemeteries to host human remains as long as they don't advertise it or charge for it.